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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29020743">Serial Problems</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellienor33/pseuds/ellienor33'>ellienor33</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hey! Say! JUMP</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, There’s murder in this okay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 12:54:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,554</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29020743</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellienor33/pseuds/ellienor33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Chinen expects this to be a perfectly normal date, but then, he meets somebody that will change his life forever.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arioka Daiki/Inoo Kei, Chinen Yuri/Inoo Kei</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chinen couldn’t believe that this online date was going so well. The guy, Yamada, had been exceptionally attractive, enough that Chinen was letting him bring him back to his apartment that night. His apartment was actually quite big, which matched the expensive restaurant Yamada had insisted he paid for. There had been some rustling around and yelping in the living room of Yamada’s apartment, and Yamada had left for a moment saying he needed to go check on his dog. Chinen waited patiently on Yamada’s bed in his underwear, but when he heard a loud crash, Chinen decided to go check on what was wrong. </p><p>“Yamada?” Chinen called out into the semi-darkness. He quickly noticed that one of Yamada’s windows was open letting in the light from the street before a pair of broad shoulders rising in the shadows caught his attention. “Yama-“ Chinen started again shakily, but the person who turned towards him was not Yamada. Then, he saw Yamada lying on the floor, and Chinen’s eyes went wide. “Get back!” Chinen cried out immediately and started stumbling backwards. His hands found one of Yamada’s side tables, and he turned towards it to find something to defend himself with. </p><p>“Relax.” A high pitched male voice said. “I didn’t know you’d be here.” Chinen continued scrambling, but then felt a hand grab his wrist. “I won’t hurt you unless you make me.” Despite the panic Chinen felt, this man’s voice was oddly soothing. It made Chinen feel strange. “Don’t you want to see him?” The man didn’t wait for a response before he pulled Chinen along behind him, and Chinen felt fear making him move his legs. “Isn’t he beautiful?” Yamada was lying there bleeding out of several places and wasn’t quite dead yet. His eyelids were almost fluttered shut while he coughed a little. </p><p>“Oh god,” cried out Chinen while he shut his eyes and tried to turn away. </p><p>The man had stepped behind Chinen, putting his hands on Chinen’s shoulders to keep him in place. “Are you just going to let him suffer like that?” He murmured against Chinen’s hair. “Or are you going to help put him out of his misery?” </p><p>“What.” Chinen watched as the guy went to retrieve the switchblade that was next to Yamada. “No, no please.” Chinen started to cry, and that’s when he finally made his move to leave. Swiftly, arms wrapped around him. The blade was pressed against his naked torso right above the waistband of his underwear.</p><p>“I said.” The man sounded more displeased, and Chinen started crying harder when he pushed the knife a little more against his skin. “Don’t make me hurt you.” The breath of the man’s voice tickled against Chinen’s cheek. “Stop being foolish now. We have a job to finish.” </p><p>“Why?” Chinen sobbed out as he was led back. “Why are you doing this?” </p><p>“It’s fun.” He pulled up Chinen’s hand to put the knife in there. “You’ll see soon.” There was a smirk on his face while he guided Chinen from behind to lean down. “Now just stick the blade right here,” a hand reached past Chinen to caress Yamada’s stomach. “And twist.” </p><p>“I can’t.” Chinen let out in a high pitched voice. “I won’t tell anyone about this. Just please-“ </p><p>“I’ll help you. Stop worrying.” There was that soothing voice again. He had moved his hand over Chinen’s shaking one, and that’s when Chinen noticed how elegant this guy’s hands were even covered in blood. </p><p>The world went blank when Chinen’s hand was led to Yamada’s stomach. Chinen heard faint noises from Yamada but kept his eyes tightly shut from fear. “It’s done. He’s dead.” The guy whispered. All Chinen did in response was to start crying again. This time, the man leaned back to sit and pulled Chinen with him. Chinen went to cry into this guy’s chest while he stroked his hair. “It’s okay. You’re safe.” He soothed. “It’s all over with now. You’re safe- I swear.”</p><p>“But how do I know that?” Chinen looked up at him.</p><p>“I’ll protect you from all of the bad guys.” </p><p>“You are the bad guys-“ </p><p>“Exactly.” He laughed out. “So you have nothing to worry about.” He went to kiss Chinen’s forehead, and the relaxing feeling Chinen couldn’t explain came forth again.</p><p>This person, who Chinen watched intently out of suspicion, insisted that they take a shower to get all of the remnants of Yamada’s blood off of them. He told Chinen not to wash his hair in fear that he would shed somewhere and insisted that Chinen just wear his hat when they left. There was no reason, he explained, since Chinen was in Yamada’s messages saying that they had a date that night, to make Chinen more of a suspect than he already was. </p><p>“What’s your name?” Chinen asked.</p><p>“Inoo.” He replied while fastening the button of his pants. “And yours?” </p><p>“Chinen Yuri.” </p><p>“In situations like this, you really shouldn’t go out giving your full name.” Inoo chuckled. “Are you ready to go back to my place?” </p><p>“Why would I do that!” </p><p>Inoo rolled his eyes. “Because you need a cover. We need to take a few selfies and things, too, so they’ll think we were together tonight. Trust me, I’m really sticking my neck out for you. It’s not like I knew Yamada at all, so I’m attaching myself to this for your sake.” </p><p>“Why?” </p><p>“I might feel a little bad for getting you involved when you were just trying to get laid.” Inoo got close to Chinen’s face and rubbed a thumb along his cheek. “Plus I might think you’re kind of cute.” </p><p>“You’re not gonna rape me, are you?” </p><p>Inoo laughed. “Rape? I highly doubt I’ll have to do that.” There was a smirk about Inoo’s features that Chinen didn’t like too much, but he still didn’t protest when Inoo leaned in to kiss him. </p><p>Inoo gave them the clear to climb through the window again, and Chinen made sure to pull his face mask up while they walked out onto the sidewalk. When they turned onto a busier street, Inoo went to hold Chinen’s hand. “What are you doing?” Chinen whispered at him. </p><p>“Nobody’s gonna look at a gay couple for too long.” Inoo whispered back and pulled him closer. “It’s your fault I don’t have my hat.” </p><p>“It’s your fault for getting blood in my hair!” Chinen loudly whispered. “Plus, nobody told you to have such a discernible haircut.”</p><p>Inoo laughed a little bit. “That’s true.” </p><p>After Inoo suggested they go get ramen, which Chinen was openly opposed to, Chinen still found himself sitting in the small restaurant in the seat across from Inoo. Inoo sipped on his tea in silence while Chinen just openly stared at him. In this setting, Chinen could try to imagine that they were on some awkward first date in order to blank out of his memory what they just did. Not like the really nice date he had been on earlier in the night. </p><p>“Have you…” Chinen started hesitantly and then gulped. “Done that before?” </p><p>“Why would I tell you that?” Inoo raised his eyebrows. </p><p>“How did you...know him?” Inoo looked hesitant, so Chinen continued, “you knew his name, so don’t try to tell me you didn’t.” </p><p>“I picked him up in a bar a couple of months ago.”  Inoo paused as they got their food. “I’m impressed by your observation skills.” Inoo smirked. “Was he your boyfriend?”</p><p>“No, this was our first date.”</p><p>Inoo laughed. “Oh, so you’re an easy first date then?” Chinen made a face back. “Does this count as our first date?” Inoo leaned his head in the palm of his hand as he asked. </p><p>“Hardly.”</p><p>“But, we’ve already done something so intimate with one another. Before we even knew one another’s names.” Chinen looked at Inoo in horror. “Let’s take a selfie together.” </p><p>“Why?”</p><p>“So you have an alibi, remember? I’ll go over the details of our story later.” </p><p>Inoo insisted that Chinen eat something, and Chinen was reluctant at first. But then, after he ate, Chinen found himself feeling a lot better. This just made Chinen more suspicious about Inoo in general. As they walked to the parking garage Inoo said his car was in, Chinen couldn’t help but feel like he was just taking him to a secluded place where he could finish him off. Chinen didn’t know why he didn’t just run off yelling for help, but what was he going to say anyway? Technically, he was a part of this now even if he had been forced into it. Inoo seemed to know what he was doing, and Chinen found himself helplessly following this man’s every word. </p><p>The car Inoo led Chinen to was the last thing Chinen was expecting. It was hands down the nicest car in the entire garage, and Inoo gave Chinen a questioning look after putting his backpack in the trunk. </p><p>“Did you steal this car or something?” Chinen blurted out. Inoo just laughed as he got in the driver's seat. They rode in silence, with Inoo putting Twice on through his car’s Bluetooth. Chinen found the music choice odd for someone like Inoo. The apartment building they pulled into the underground garage of matched the car that Inoo drove, and when the elevator pinged on Inoo’s floor, Chinen noted how few doors there were on Inoo’s hallway. </p><p>As Chinen entered the one and a half floor apartment Inoo resided in, the first thing he noticed was how messy it was. Apparently, Inoo was the kind of guy who owned nice things, but didn’t like to take care of them. “Sorry,” offered Inoo. Almost like he read Chinen’s mind, he said, “it wasn’t like I was expecting someone to come over. Don’t look so surprised. You have that look of judgement all over your face.” Inoo put a finger in the air as he walked forward. “Decent at observation- bad at hiding emotions. Noted.” </p><p>“Come on, let’s wash your clothes.” Inoo said before disappearing into a doorway off of his kitchen. “You can borrow some of my clothes to sleep in.” Chinen followed him into a laundry room, and this seemed to be the tidiest part of Inoo’s house. Inoo was busying himself taking his old, blood stained clothing out of his backpack and putting them into the machine while Chinen stripped. “Do you want some tea?” Inoo asked after he started the washing machine. </p><p>“No.” Chinen stood there in his boxers. “I want clothes, please.” </p><p>“Understandable.” Chinen followed Inoo away. Inoo’s half floor seemed to have his bedroom on it, and a whole other living room with an intricate fireplace. In that living room, Chinen saw a desk with a computer and papers strewn about it. “Don’t you want to wash all of that blood out of your hair?” Inoo pointed towards a doorway while he handed Chinen some clothes. “Go use my shower. You’re not dirtying up my sheets.” </p><p>Chinen was expecting to be slightly disgusted by Inoo’s bathroom, but this seemed to be another part of the apartment Inoo kept exceptionally clean. It was as if now that Chinen was alone and had time to process his thoughts, this was the time Chinen’s emotions had decided that they had had enough. Once he had started crying, he turned on the shower to make sure Inoo wouldn’t hear him. The pelting water felt nice as Chinen curled up into a little ball and sobbed into his knees. Now, the same person who had scared Chinen for life was his only hope of getting out of this mess. </p><p>As Chinen returned to the bedroom, he found Inoo already on his bed on his phone with someone. “Yes, Daiki, I’m sorry.” Inoo looked panicked for a moment and motioned for Chinen to be quiet. “I know, I know, but it’s late now, and I really need to be heading to bed. They apparently need me on my day off tomorrow.”</p><p>“No! I promise.” Inoo laughed a little. “I swear I won’t cancel.” Then, Inoo hummed and flashed his eyes to Chinen for a second before saying, “I love you too. Good night.” </p><p>“Who’s Daiki?” Chinen asked while getting on the other side. </p><p>“That’s none of your concern.” Inoo looked at him with a little smile. “I have another bedroom, but I guess you want to sleep with me tonight.” Chinen almost left Inoo’s bed, but Inoo had started scooting closer to him. “That’s cute. Those pajamas are huge on you. They fit you just like-“ Inoo stopped, but he smiled to himself. </p><p>“Now let’s give you that alibi.” Inoo whispered while he put a hand on Chinen’s side to start caressing it. Almost as if he was being careful about the whole thing, Inoo started placing kisses on Chinen’s upper neck and then trailed downwards. This wasn’t what Chinen had expected from him, with Inoo having not told him his plan yet, but he still didn’t protest. Chinen just told himself that the only reason he was letting Inoo have sex with him was to get out of this whole mess, but it wasn’t like Chinen didn’t find Inoo uniquely handsome. In another universe, Chinen knew that he would even have a crush on Inoo.</p><p>While Inoo kissed Chinen’s neck, he did little nips that Chinen was sure would leave marks. Inoo had started unfastenting the top buttons of Chinen’s pajama top before pushing the fabric out of the way in a precision that made Chinen know Inoo was quite experienced with this. He trailed down to Chinen’s collar bone, and that’s when Chinen was sure Inoo was leaving a hickey on him. When Inoo wiped his mouth and pulled away, Chinen looked at him confused. </p><p>“What? You want more?” Inoo looked amused at the situation. </p><p>“Well-“ Chinen started in an annoyed tone. He found himself already half hard and stinted for the second time tonight. </p><p>“Don’t worry. I would if I had the energy, but I’m exhausted, so.” Inoo shrugged. “Feel free to jack off in my bathroom. I’m going to bed.” </p><p>“Fine.” Chinen started getting underneath Inoo’s covers, and he turned away from him. </p><p>“Don’t be like that.” Inoo chuckled in the newfound darkness. “Don’t tell me you’re already developing some kind of weird Stockholm syndrome.” Chinen felt Inoo moving his face closer, and he turned towards him. “Good night.” Inoo whispered, and that’s when he kissed Chinen for the second time. This one was short and sweet, and then Inoo curled himself around Chinen while hugging him from behind. </p><p>“Good night.” Chinen replied. Even if Chinen should’ve been scared to death by the situation, he found himself being comforted by Inoo’s embrace, and he knew he made the right decision by staying in Inoo’s bed. Chinen knew that if he was alone right now, he’d have a much harder time falling asleep. The comfort of Inoo’s breath turning more shallow soothed Chinen until he quickly fell asleep, too.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chinen awoke to being lightly shaken. It was barely morning, but there stood Inoo in an obviously expensive fitted suit. “I wanted to tell you that I need to head to work.”</p><p>“So early?” Chinen sat up and rubbed his eyes.</p><p>“What? You think I make all of this money by sitting around and doing nothing? Feel free to make yourself breakfast by using anything in my fridge.” Then, Inoo crouched down to Chinen’s level and put a pointed finger underneath Chinen’s chin to make him look him in the eyes. “If you try to do anything stupid while I’m gone, I’ll make sure to make you go down with me,” said Inoo in a dangerous voice and then ran his fingernail along Chinen’s throat. “And if you try to run away, I’ll make sure you pay for it.” Inoo kissed Chinen’s forehead before going to leave.</p><p>Inoo’s words rang through Chinen’s head so much that he had a hard time falling back asleep. Giving up, Chinen settled on going down to get something to eat. Chinen didn’t really find anything in Inoo’s fridge, but he found a box of cereal to live off of. </p><p>After he finally checked his phone, Chinen found several text messages from friends asking him how his date had gone the previous night. So then, not really wanting to remember what had happened the night before Chinen looked around Inoo’s apartment for a distraction. And like that, it hit Chinen what mind numbing thing he could preoccupy himself with. </p><p>“I’m back.” Chinen heard downstairs, and he immediately rushed towards the balcony railing to see Inoo standing in his entryway. When Chinen arrived downstairs, he found Inoo standing in his kitchen wearing an unpleasant expression. “What the hell is this?” Inoo motioned to the now spotless room. </p><p>“Well, I’m not finished yet, but I thought it’d be nice to clean up-“ </p><p>“Who told you you could touch my stuff?” Inoo had started raising his voice and stepping closer to Chinen. </p><p>“But, but, I was just trying to-“ </p><p>Inoo grabbed Chinen’s shirt collar, and Chinen all of a sudden found himself being scared of Inoo. “Don’t you ever do anything like this without my permission ever again.” Before letting go, Inoo made sure to prolong the eye contact between them. “And what do you think you’re doing in that get up? Are you playing my whore housewife or something?” </p><p>“It’s just-“ Chinen looked down at his outfit in embarrassment. “Those pants I was wearing last night are actually really uncomfortable.” He tried to pull down the apron he was wearing over his boxers. </p><p>Inoo snorted. “Yeah, okay. Here.” Inoo took off his suit jacket and outstretched it towards Chinen. “Go put this away for me. Oh, wait.” Inoo went to take off his tie. “This too. I have my ties hanging on the back of my closet door.” </p><p>“O-okay.” While Chinen went back upstairs, instead of feeling upset about Inoo’s reaction, he found himself upset at himself for causing Inoo to feel stressed out after a day of work. This was something Chinen knew he needed to work on about himself. In his previous relationships, he had been cheated on and taken advantage of more times than he could count, but Chinen was a sucker for any man with a pretty face. </p><p>Chinen returned downstairs to find Inoo already sitting on his couch switching TV drinking a beer. After some hesitation, Chinen finally went to sit next to him while Inoo wrapped his arm around Chinen’s shoulders. It seemed like Inoo had forgiven him. </p><p>“We need to go get some of your stuff, but I have something to do tonight.” Inoo said. “Tonight, you need to sleep in my downstairs bedroom, and don’t be out after 8.” Then, Inoo gave him a serious look. “If you make any noise and make me come in there, I swear you’ll regret it.” </p><p>“Okay.” Chinen replied softly. </p><p>“Good.” Inoo kissed the top of his head and then pulled out his phone. “Here. Order whatever you want for dinner.” On the screen was a delivery app. </p><p>“Oh? Thank you.” Chinen was kind of excited at the prospect of getting some real food that wasn’t cereal. </p><p>Once Inoo had changed, Chinen found himself alone again. This time, Chinen decided to do the snooping he should’ve done earlier. Chinen looked around Inoo’s apartment searching for any clues as to who Inoo exactly was that he could find. Apparently, Inoo had a lot more personal memorabilia in the living room he had next to his bedroom. Chinen kept on seeing photos of Inoo with a cute guy that had round eyes and a bright smile. As Chinen picked up a photo where they were wearing mouse ears from Disney, Chinen found himself being a little jealous. Inoo looked genuinely happy in that photo. </p><p>Chinen decided to just scan the top of Inoo’s desk. He knew that if he moved a paper and didn’t put it back exactly where it was, Inoo would know something was up. There wasn’t anything particularly specific on Inoo’s desk- just a lot of papers seemingly about his job. He did figure out that Inoo’s first name was Kei, though, but he had to look up the kanji for Inoo’s last name to make sure he wasn’t lying about it. Chinen sat on Inoo’s bed in defeat, but then he thought about looking in Inoo’s nightstand. In one drawer there was an array of sex toys and lube, and Chinen quickly shut that drawer. The drawer beneath it at first looked a lot less interesting, with random papers and things, but then Chinen had the guts to look underneath them.</p><p>Sitting there was an old, beat up black flip phone. Chinen went to open the relic, and when the screen popped on, he was mildly surprised. After remembering how to work a flip phone, Chinen went to the text messages to see that Inoo had been only texting one person on it. This person’s contact name was just Yabu, and they had apparently been texting as early as this morning. Chinen sat on Inoo’s bed while he individually opened up each message and cursed how annoying flip phones used to be.</p><p>There was talk of Yamada’s murder last night, and Inoo boasting about how he was for sure going to get away with it. Then, they started talking about Chinen and how he was staying there. The last text Inoo had sent Yabu said, “oh no. The kid definitely wants me, but I think I’ll make him work for it a little bit,” and then Yabu replied, “just don’t make him wait too long. He seems like he could be useful.” </p><p>The way Inoo was talking about Chinen made him a little upset. It was like Chinen was Inoo’s plaything that he could discard at any moment. Even if Chinen was technically using Inoo as well to get out of something, it hurt Chinen to know Inoo wasn’t keeping him around for genuine reasons. When Inoo had saved Chinen the night previous instead of killing him too, it had almost made Chinen feel kind of special. </p><p>Chinen started waiting in Inoo’s spare bedroom at 8:00, but he didn’t hear Inoo come home until 8:30. Whenever the sound of the front door closed, Chinen went to sit next to the door to his bedroom. </p><p>“Wow! You really cleaned up in here.” An unfamiliar voice exclaimed. </p><p>“I might’ve hired a maid.” </p><p>“Finally!” There was a pause. “So, now that you’ve been easing up on what you deem your space, maybe we can revisit..”</p><p>“Daiki, no.” </p><p>“But I don’t know why you’re still so hesitant! Don’t you love me?”</p><p>“Of course I love you. You know that.” </p><p>“Then why! ...you haven’t been cheating on me again, have you?” </p><p>“I haven’t cheated on you in years.” There was another pause. “Just give me a couple of months, okay? You’ve waited this long, right? I’ll start doing little things around the apartment to get ready for you to move in.” </p><p>“Are you serious this time?” </p><p>“Yeah.” Inoo’s voice sounded elated in a way that Chinen had never heard before. “If it’s what makes you happy.” There wasn’t anymore talking, but then Chinen started to hear the rustling of clothes and soft moans coming from Daiki.</p><p>“Kei, don’t you think that we should take this upstairs?” </p><p>“Don’t worry. I’ll do you up there too.” </p><p>Chinen was again awoken to light shaking. This time, Inoo was kneeling on the bed in a bathrobe. “Daiki’s still sleeping,” whispered Inoo. “I just wanted to come check on you.” </p><p>“I’m fine.” Chinen grumbled and further encased himself in blankets. “I’d be less tired if you guys didn’t keep me up all night.”</p><p>“Yeah, Daiki can be kind of loud. Sorry about that.” Inoo went to move some of Chinen’s hair out of his face. “You were really good last night. I guess I’m gonna have to treat you to something today.” Inoo leaned down to give Chinen a kiss. “There’s a cup of coffee and a croissant on your side table. I’ll tell you when you can come out.” </p><p>It took awhile for Inoo to come get Chinen again. Instead of Chinen actually getting up for the day, he had fallen back asleep. Inoo had started crawling underneath the covers with Chinen, and Chinen half asleep cuddled into Inoo’s side in response. “We have things to do today.” Inoo murmured into Chinen’s hair. </p><p>“But I wanna stay like this a little longer.”</p><p>“I already had this morning-“</p><p>“With your boyfriend?” Chinen bit back.</p><p>Inoo paused. “Yeah, with my boyfriend.” There was a sigh before Inoo started, “Chi, Daiki doesn’t know anything about my past-time. So, if you do decide to take me down, please leave him out of it. He’s honestly innocent.”</p><p>This was the first time Inoo had been a little vulnerable to Chinen, and it took him aback. There was no threat to Inoo’s tone, just genuine concern. “I didn’t know somebody like you was capable of loving someone.”</p><p>Inoo chuckled. “It’s possible.” </p><p>The rest of the day was spent running errands. Chinen noticed that, on the surface, Inoo seemed like a totally normal person. It was weird to see him out in the world acting like that, and Chinen thought about what drove Inoo to have fun committing murder like he did. To Chinen, Inoo could be normal with just a little work, and maybe he was the person that could make Inoo be like that. Those thoughts started blossoming into maybe Daiki wasn’t making Inoo happy like he should be, and, in actuality, Chinen felt that special feeling that only he was the one who knew Inoo’s true self.</p><p>They finally arrived at Chinen’s small apartment building, and Inoo’s expensive aura seemed out of place amongst the lower middle class neighborhood. “Is this really where you live?” Inoo had hidden his distaste until they had arrived inside Chinen’s apartment. </p><p>“Yeah. It’s not too bad.” Chinen said as he started collecting his things. Inoo stood there awkwardly in Chinen’s living room bedroom combination like sitting on the floor was beneath him. “What does Daiki do for a living?” Chinen asked out of curiosity.</p><p>“Shouldn’t you be asking that question about me instead?” Inoo raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms. </p><p>“That’s true. So what do you do?” </p><p>“I work for a computer software company. As for Daiki, let’s just say he doesn’t live in a place like this either. What do you do?”</p><p>“I’m an accountant.” </p><p>“That’s stable, I guess. Now hurry up. I have somewhere else to be, and I guess I’m gonna have to take you with me.” </p><p>The place Inoo ended up taking Chinen was an izakaya in a residential neighborhood. This seemed like another out of place scenario for Inoo, but as Inoo entered, he looked extremely comfortable with the place. His eyes scanned the room before a man waved over at him, and he waved back. </p><p>“I’m sorry I’m late.” Inoo apologized as they sat down. “Some people have no grasp of time.” Inoo eyed Chinen. </p><p>The guy laughed. “Who is this, anyway?”</p><p>“A new friend. This is Chinen Yuri, and Chinen, this is Hikaru.” </p><p>“It’s nice to meet you! Inoo, you never bring your friends around us, so why now?”</p><p>“Chinen is staying with me for awhile-“</p><p>“Seriously? You know, Daiki told me the news..”</p><p>“What news?” </p><p>“That you two are moving in together! He said you seemed really serious about it this time.” </p><p>“Yeah, that’s why I decided to let Chinen stay with me. You know, get used to living with someone again and whatnot. And besides, I consider it charity considering where Chinen used to be living…”</p><p>“Don’t be mean to the kid!” Hikaru started laughing. “Remember that apartment you and Kota shared during college?” </p><p>“Don’t remind me.” Inoo took a swig of beer and made a face. “I’ll never forget all of those cockroaches..at least Yabu was the only roommate I’ve ever had that didn’t drive me insane.” </p><p>“Yabu?” Chinen questioned out loud, and then immediately regretted saying anything as both pairs of eyes were turned onto him. </p><p>“Yeah.” Inoo replied. “A close personal friend, and Hika’s boyfriend.” </p><p>“We should invite them here!” Hikaru all of a sudden whined. “I’ve barely seen Kota today…”</p><p>“Why do we even try to go out to dinner just the two of us?” Inoo pulled out his phone. “I guess Daiki should meet Chinen anyway.” </p><p>Chinen was a little curious at the prospect of meeting Daiki, but who he really hoped would show up was Yabu. Surely, this Yabu was the same one that Inoo had been texting on the flip phone. Even if Daiki didn’t know anything, Chinen looked at Hikaru across the table in suspicion. When Inoo announced that Daiki was on his way, Hikaru sheepishly admitted to already having invited Yabu ten minutes prior.</p><p>“You live with him.” Inoo said incredulously. “You see him all of the time.” </p><p>“Yeah, but it’s not the same as spending quality time with him. Pretty soon you’ll see too, Inoo. Kota’s been working so much recently…”</p><p>“He’s been working on that promotion, hasn’t he?” They both slipped into talk of work, and it seemed like Yabu worked in the same company as Inoo. Inoo seemed higher up than Yabu, though, talking about being the main supporter of Yabu’s promotion. </p><p>The first to arrive was Daiki. Chinen immediately recognized him from the photos, and he looked confused at Chinen as he approached the table. “Chi, move over please,” said Inoo, “so I can sit next to Daiki.” </p><p>“Yeah,” then Chinen took a seat at the head of the table. He watched as Daiki then took the seat that was previously Inoo’s, and Inoo wrapped an arm around Daiki’s shoulders with a kiss. </p><p>“Why do I feel privileged to see my boyfriend twice in one day?” Inoo starting laughing at Daiki’s upset expression. “We’ve been dating for what? Five years now? Hika, do you see how I’m treated?” Inoo started moving his face closer to Daiki’s with a little smile, and Daiki quickly swatted him away. “He thinks I’m some cute thing he can kiss his way out of being mad at him. And whose idea was it to invite me to this get together tonight?”</p><p>“That was mine!” Hika piped up.</p><p>“What!” Inoo started at Daiki’s mad expression. “I never get to go out with just Hikaru. I thought we could catch up.” </p><p>“With this guy?” Daiki pointed at Chinen. </p><p>“Okay, okay, he’s a friend of a coworker that got dumped and needs a place to stay for awhile. So, out of the goodness of my heart and a need to get used to living with someone again, I offered him my spare bedroom for a little while. Getting his stuff just took longer than I expected.” </p><p>“This cute guy is...staying with you?” Daiki looked at them both. Inoo nodded happily. “Well you both can wallow in sadness together, because you’re also about to be recently dumped!” </p><p>“Relax, relax, Daiki.” Inoo fished around in his pocket for a second. “I got you something.” Inoo produced a key. “This is to my apartment.”</p><p>“Wow, he’s just now getting your apartment key?” Hikaru laughed out, and in the midst of kissing Inoo, Daiki flipped him off. </p><p>“Has Daiki drunk too much already?” A tall man that Chinen didn’t notice at first said, and he was busily putting his suit jacket on the back of his chair. </p><p>“No. They’re just publicly making out because Inoo finally gave Daiki the key to his apartment.” </p><p>“Ah.” Yabu leaned down to give Hikaru a kiss. “Is this Chinen?” Yabu asked.</p><p>“Yeah! How did you know?”</p><p>“Inoo told me about it.”</p><p>“Wait!” Daiki pulled away from Inoo. “Why did you tell him before me?”</p><p>“The guy that was looking for a place for Chinen to stay was a friend from work.” Yabu lied seamlessly, and even if Chinen didn’t know anything about Yabu, he would’ve found it suspicious. “So stop fretting, Daiki.” Whenever Daiki started protesting and Hikaru engaged him, Chinen didn’t miss the look Inoo and Yabu shared across the table. </p><p>Much to Chinen’s delight, Daiki had decided that he would go to his own apartment that night. There was protest from Inoo, and that made Inoo’s mood drop when they were alone together. Chinen tried to cheer Inoo up while he talked about little things from his life, but this just seemed to annoy Inoo even more. When they arrived at Inoo’s apartment, Inoo immediately headed for the fridge, got a beer, and turned on the news. Chinen stood with his bags at the doorway, and he felt anxious about asking Inoo where he should put them. So, Chinen decided he’d start putting his stuff in Inoo’s downstairs bedroom, which Inoo didn’t say anything about. </p><p>As Chinen returned, he found Inoo in the same place. Inoo slightly turned to him and went, “they still haven’t said anything about Yamada’s murder on any news sources.” </p><p>“Oh?” Chinen went to sit next to him. “Well that’s good, isn’t it? They’ll start distancing me from it?”</p><p>“Not likely. They can figure out how long he’s been dead for.” Inoo took a swig of beer and continued, “it’s weird. When I slept with him, he seemed to have a lot of friends. One of them should be curious that he’s disappeared. This is definitely something they should be reporting on, at least on local news.”</p><p>“Inoo,” fidgeted out Chinen, “do you want them to find the body?”</p><p>“I want to get all of this over with.” Inoo gave a long look to Chinen.</p><p>“But I thought we could stay in touch afterwards-“</p><p>“Why?” Inoo spat out. </p><p>“Because I thought I could help you from now on.” </p><p>With mild surprise, Inoo studied Chinen. “I don’t need help with anything you might be insinuating right now.” </p><p>“But, Inoo.” Chinen started desperately. “This Yamada thing definitely wasn’t a one time thing, right? Let me just prove myself..”</p><p>“That’s enough.” Inoo started to rise, and Chinen inwardly panicked. “I really don’t want to hear any more of this at the moment.” </p><p>“Inoo?” Chinen started carefully. He turned to where Inoo was standing in his kitchen doing something on his phone. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight? It’s kind of hard to sleep alone after...well you know.”</p><p>Inoo sighed. “Shouldn’t I be the one you’re afraid of though?” </p><p>“That’s true, but it’s just more comfortable. Besides, we both know that if you were going to hurt me, you would’ve done it by now.”</p><p>“Fine.” Inoo started making his way upstairs, and Chinen turned off the TV to go start getting ready for bed in his downstairs bedroom. As Chinen went upstairs, he found Inoo by his desk sorting out some papers already in his pajamas. After Chinen got into Inoo’s bed, Inoo followed soon afterwards. Chinen put down his phone on the nightstand, and when Inoo was settled, he quickly moved to Inoo’s side. He had decided earlier that tonight was going to be the night he finally seduced Inoo into sleeping with him. </p><p>Chinen started by rubbing his hand on Inoo’s side, and he reached up to start placing small kisses on Inoo’s neck. Inoo didn’t seem to want to respond until he said, lazily, “what do you think you’re doing?” </p><p>“Didn’t you want Daiki to come over to have sex with him?” Chinen had started trailing his hand downward, and Inoo firmly caught him by the wrist before his hand reached the waistband of his pants. “Let me be his replacement.” Once Chinen looked up to make eye contact with Inoo, the grasp on his wrist tightened painfully. </p><p>“You have to do whatever I want.” </p><p>“That’s fine,” squeaked out Chinen.</p><p>“I’m not going easy on you.” Inoo chuckled and used a hand on Chinen’s chest to start pushing him down. “Daiki’s loud for a reason,” murmured Inoo close to Chinen’s face with a smile. </p><p>——</p><p>“You look like hell.” Chinen looked up from where he was making coffee in the break room, and he saw his coworker, Yuto, standing there. </p><p>“Good morning is the normal greeting.” Chinen bit back. </p><p>“I’m assuming your date didn’t go well?” Yuto said as he pulled a mug from the cabinet. “You haven’t texted me back all weekend.” </p><p>“Yeah, well…” Chinen leaned against the counter. Him and Inoo had gone over this story hundreds of times, with Inoo constantly quizzing him about details. “The date went badly, so I ended up going to a bar afterwards. Then I met this guy, and he took me out for ramen. I’ve been at his apartment all weekend.” </p><p>“Are you serious? So that’s going well, huh?” Yuto leaned in close to Chinen with a smile. “Is he cute?” </p><p>“Yeah! Look.” Chinen pulled out his phone to show Yuto the picture he and Inoo had taken the other night. </p><p>“I might have to steal this one from you.” </p><p>“Can’t.” Chinen replied with confidence. “He doesn’t bottom.” </p><p>“That guy doesn’t bottom?” Yuto looked at Chinen like he didn’t believe him. “There’s no way.” </p><p>“How do you know from a picture? I actually had sex with him, you know.” Chinen shivered, remembering the night before, as he turned his attention back to the coffee pot. </p><p>“How was that?” </p><p>“He’s a sadist-“</p><p>“I didn’t know you were into that kind of stuff.” </p><p>“I gave it a try.” Chinen said with a little huff. “He tied me to his bed, right? And then he poured candle wax all over me…” </p><p>“Do you have burns!” Yuto said over excitedly. He started grabbing at Chinen’s shirt collar. “Let me see them!” </p><p>“No way!” After Chinen swatted Yuto away, he grabbed his mug from the counter. “I don’t have any burns, anyway. He seemed to know what he was doing.” </p><p>“I want to meet him now.” Yuto chimed matter of factly. “I want to meet the guy that convinced you to do wax play.” </p><p>“We’re not even officially dating yet.” </p><p>“Please?” Yuto begged, and Chinen decided that Yuto would keep pestering him about this if he didn’t at least try. He pulled out his phone to text Inoo about the situation, and Inoo texted back rather fast. </p><p>“We can go out to dinner with him sometime this week.”</p><p>——</p><p>Chinen arrived back at Inoo's apartment exhausted. Inoo warned Chinen that the police might show up at his job to find him, and the stress on Chinen took a toll on him as he waited for the moment to finally come. When Chinen had entered through the doorway, he saw a person too small to be Inoo sitting on his living room couch. After putting something in his pocket, Daiki turned towards Chinen a little from where he was sitting watching TV, and he said, “oh, it’s you. Chinen, isn’t it?” </p><p>“Yeah.” Chinen stood there. “Um, I never think I caught your last name-“</p><p>“It’s Arioka.” Daiki sighed. “Kei says he’s going to be late tonight. I wanted to surprise him, but he usually gets home by now.” Chinen had already known this since Inoo had told him earlier, but he didn’t let that on to Daiki. “What do you want to do for dinner? It seems like it’s going to be the two of us.” Chinen finally went to sit next to Daiki on the couch, and it seemed like Daiki had no problems spending his money as he never even mentioned Chinen paying him back while they ordered. That’s when Chinen tried to take notice of the button up shirt and suit pants that Daiki was wearing- they seemed to be just as expensive as Inoo’s.</p><p>Daiki seemed to be more bubbly than Inoo was and in a better mood than he had been the previous night. He kept on asking Chinen about facts about his life, and in turn, told Chinen details about his own life. Surely, Inoo would have a problem with this if he knew, but Chinen didn’t want to seem rude. When Daiki went to go get beer, Chinen asked, “do you really think it’s okay if I take his stuff like this?” </p><p>Beer in hand, Daiki waved around Inoo’s apartment. “You think he can’t afford for you to drink his beer? It’s fine. I’ll buy him more if he gets fussy about it.” As Daiki sat down, something fell out of his pocket. Chinen looked to see a small black flip phone. The same one Inoo had hidden in his bedside drawer. Daiki quickly shoved the phone back in his pocket, and Chinen couldn’t help but wonder if it was Inoo’s, or if it was a different one that Daiki used as well. Maybe Daiki wasn’t as innocent as Inoo let on. </p><p>After they ate dinner, and Daiki had drunk quite a bit more, Daiki turned to Chinen with a pensive look on his face. It was like he was building courage to say something, and Chinen stared on in curiosity. “Chinen, how do you really know Kei?” </p><p>“What do you mean?” Chinen laughed a little in anxiety. “I just know one of his coworkers-“ </p><p>“How do you know this coworker of Kei’s?” </p><p>“We’re friends from college.” </p><p>“And what’s his name?” </p><p>“Yamada.” It was the first name that came to Chinen’s memory on a whim, and he instantly regretted it.</p><p>“See,” Daiki sighed, “Kei told me that you and Matsushima were childhood friends. So, you’re both lying to me about something.” Daiki took a swig of beer. “And apparently Yabu’s in on it, too. Which is to be expected I guess.” Chinen squirmed while they sat in silence. “Have you been having sex with him?” </p><p>The question hung in the air for a moment before Chinen replied, “no.” </p><p>Daiki laughed. “You’re a really bad liar. Did you have sex with him last night?” Chinen fidgeted, feeling his face turning red, before Daiki made a swift move to undo some of Chinen’s shirt buttons. Chinen didn’t protest as Daiki shoved the fabric out of the way, and he ran a thumb over some of the visible marks and bruises Inoo had left the night before. “I’m not as stupid as I act.” Daiki stood up, and he left Chinen to sit in silence. “You have to be a better liar if you want to nudge your way into our friend group.” Chinen looked over, and Daiki had put the black flip phone on the counter while he threw away his empty beer bottle like he was trying to send Chinen a message. </p><p>After swiping the phone off the counter, Daiki made his way upstairs. Not wanting to disturb anything, Chinen just watched whatever was on the TV until Inoo arrived home. “Daiki?” Inoo called out while he was taking off his shoes. “Are you still here?” </p><p>“Yeah!” Daiki yelled back, and he was soon descending the steps. “How was work?” Daiki asked while he walked towards Inoo.</p><p>“Boring. I’m sorry I had to work so late on a day you got off early-“</p><p>“Don’t be.” Daiki went to kiss Inoo. “We still have the rest of the night to spend together. I got the fireplace started, and I pulled out one of your bottles of wine.” </p><p>“That sounds nice. I should’ve given you my apartment key earlier.” Inoo said as they were headed upstairs. He made a detour, though, going to ruffle Chinen’s hair and saying, “hey, Chi.” </p><p>“Hey.” Chinen leaned into the physical affection from Inoo and decided it had lasted way too short. Daiki gave him a look before they both headed upstairs, and Chinen immediately turned back around. How much Daiki knew Chinen wasn’t sure of, but he definitely knew more than Inoo was aware of. Chinen wondered if he should confront Daiki about his knowledge of the situation, but that could backfire so horribly. If Daiki didn’t know what Inoo was doing the other night, Chinen didn’t want to be the one to tell him and then face Inoo’s rage afterwards. Also, Chinen would be admitting out loud to murder to someone other than Inoo, which he really wasn’t comfortable with. </p><p>After he hand changed into sweatpants, Chinen went back to the couch and mindlessly played a phone game with earbuds in. Even if he missed Inoo, this was the first time he had time to relax to himself in days. He didn’t really know much time had passed and was kind of startled when he felt a touch on his shoulder. </p><p>“I didn’t know you were still down here.” Inoo remarked. “We didn’t bother you?” </p><p>“I couldn’t hear anything, honestly. Is he asleep?”</p><p>“Who? Daiki?” Inoo looked in the direction of his bedroom. “I think so. Why?” </p><p>“Just wondering.”</p><p>All of a sudden, Inoo bent down to whisper in Chinen’s ear, “you have a lot of nerve.” There was a hint of amusement in Inoo’s voice, and Chinen really liked the smile Inoo was giving him. </p><p>“I didn’t mean anything by it!” Chinen whispered back.</p><p>“Yeah, okay.” Inoo put both of his hands on Chinen’s shoulders before giving him a peck on the lips. “Good night, Chi.” Inoo laughed a little bit.</p><p>“Good night, Inoo!” Chinen called out.</p>
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